Building better and more sustainable batteries is certainly one of the goals for the future. And now, those packing peanuts used to protect fragile things from breaking during transport could play a major role in achieving this goal. A team of researchers at Perdue University has discovered that these packing peanuts could actually be used in lithium-ion batteries.

The Australian architecture firm Archiblox recently unveiled their newest prefab home, which boasts of a number of sustainable and green features. According to the architects this is the first carbon positive prefabricated house in the world, which also means that it is the first energy positive prefab home. Whether those claims are true is up for debate, perhaps, but the fact that this is a very sustainable prefab home can’t be denied.

The so-called Schoolmasters is a sustainable prefab home, which was recently built near Aberdeen, Scotland. It was constructed following the strict Passivhaus guidelines, though they did not seek the actual certification, because they wanted more freedom in designing it. Most of its energy needs are met by harvesting renewable energy sources.

In January 2015, the Finnish VTT Technical Centre introduced decorative organic photovoltaic cells (OPV), which can be inexpensively mass-produced, and which can easily be incorporated into the design of any home. These cells are capable of capturing energy from interior lighting and generate enough power to run small devices and sensors.

One of the more interesting creations to come out of the recently held Salt Siida Workshop, taking place on the Sandhornøy island in Norway, is certainly the so-called Nomadic Shelter. It measures a very modest 130 square feet (12 square meters) yet can comfortably sleep up to 12 people.

Gerhard Feldbacher, a designer from Austria, has just launched a small home, which can easily be moved around on a whim, though it is not a true mobile home. He’s calling his invention Simple Home, and it is designed to rest atop four legs which allows the home to be easily installed in the desired location without the need for hoists, cranes or other heavy machinery. And perhaps, best of all, the Simple Home can be taken off-the-grid.